Today I went to Jo Davenport’s exhibition opening at Flinders Lane Gallery. Her paintings are large, abstract, loose and spontaneous. She uses strong colours, runny paint which bleeds into the canvas and drips, thick paint applied with a palette knife, brushstrokes and scrape marks that combine in a frenzy of colour. This series is based on landscapes inspired by a recent boat trip from Echuca to Adelaide on the Murray River. I loved the looseness, the variation of marks and the colours!
I’m a big fan of Rebecca Baumann’s work. Last year I loved her Automated Colour Field at ACCA, an installation of 100 flip clocks with pages of coloured paper. This was a beautiful contemplative artwork, constantly changing as the coloured pages randomly flipped over. In November last year I saw her golden curtain of tinsel, Untitled Cascade, animated by a small domestic fan, at West Space. It reminded me of a theatrical curtain or a backdrop from a cheesy TV game show. She’s also created a confetti machine and used exploding balloons filled with confetti and coloured smoke bombs in her installations. Her work is really fun and beautiful and she’s interested in the relationship between colour and emotion.
Yayoi Kusama has designed Louis Vuitton’s new window displays! Thanks to my painting teacher Marina for tipping me off. I’d actually seen a photo of LV Kusama windows in Bangkok, but didn’t realise they were also in Collins Street, Melbourne.
Gemma Smith is one of my favourite artists. Her paintings are made up of geometric colourful ‘shards’, giving a sense of perspective and depth. She also makes multi-sided perspex sculptures she calls ‘boulders’. Her new works (Tangle paintings) are much more painterly and use organic shapes. I love her use of colour and the way she uses both geometric and organic shapes.
Work from 2011 here.
In March I went to Brisbane Gallery Of Modern Art to see Yayoi Kusama’s exhibition, Look now, see forever.
In the show were large acrylic sculptures, installation rooms with inflatables, sculptures and mirrors, and large paintings, including an ‘Infinity Net’ series which inspired my Psychedelic Pink Coral painting. The Obliteration Room, an interactive work — a white room containing white furniture — was gradually covered with round colourful stickers by the audience. I love Yayoi Kusama’s work, it is so vibrant, quirky and colourful, and her installations are amazing. I first saw her work a few years back, her infinity room Soul under the moon, which is also at Brisbane GOMA. It’s incredible. You enter a small dark room and feel like you’re in a galaxy stretching to infinity. I’m so pleased I was able to see more of her work this year.
Last Wednesday 30 May I attended my first Prince concert in Melbourne. It was AWESOME! He played for nearly three hours, was witty and charming, looked amazing, and played guitar and sang like a m*f*cker! We love you Prince! XOXO
My studio has moved! To cut a long story short, a student dropped out of our art studios, then I swapped studios with another student, then a third student swapped with me… now I’ve got a studio with a window view looking down onto Melbourne city from the 17th floor… Sweet!
The aftermath this morning…
The Margaritas were made with fresh lime, the Mex food was handmade with love, the guests were an eclectic group of artists and friends… Ai Carumba! Muchos gracias Amigos XOXO
http://crashinglybeautiful.tumblr.com/tagged/China-Galland
Thankyou to Luke Storms at Crashingly Beautiful.
kerynrobinson 